Ten Steps
by Gene'sGenie1969
Summary: Something new from someone new! Gentle Galexy romance, post S3 E8, just because I couldn't leave Gene fighting the bad guys forever, and because Alex deserves him! Nothing naughty, just good old fashioned romance!


**Well, I have been silently browsing in the background here since what feels like 1981...I have read and re read so many stories and all the while this has been bubbling below the surface. I have loved every episode of LOM and A2A and truly believe that the ending was fitting. However, I think it was only right to offer my idea of how things could have gone on after S3 E8, as they deserved each other and the Gene Genie certainly deserved eventual peace. **

**Disclaimer:-I don't own anything in this world - and definitely have no claim over A2A or it's characters - but I have hugely enjoyed making brave Gene, beautiful Alex and dear Nelson, dance to my tune for a little while**

**Un-beta-d, so any errors are mine ad mine alone - I have read it so many times I truly believe I know it by heart...**

**Rating K - nothing naughty, just romance and my own sentimental heart.**

**This is my first time, so please be kind - I would love to receive your feedback.**

**xxxx**

Alex pauses at the top step, one hand tentatively placed upon the pub door. She is only dimly aware of the soft music and voices within.

Her eyes are fixed on his as he waits on the cobbled street. She cannot bear to look away from him, because she knows that when she looks back, he will be gone - but she cannot stand to watch him leave either.

She feels her heart breaking (and she understands the irony of this phrase now that she knows the truth about her being here) It is all too much….the knowledge that she is dead…..never to see Molly again….and Gene - oh God, Gene….she whispers, so softly that only she and the night can hear "I love you…."

She tilts her face to gaze up at the sky where a million bright stars are watching her. In the crisp night air, her tears cool against her hot, fevered cheeks. As she closes her eyes, she can still feel the soft insistence of his lips on hers, and the warm safety of his arms as he held her.

When she looks back to the street, he has gone.

She turns towards the door, and pushes her way into the unknown…

xxxx

Gene waits in the street, watching her - he has to be sure she will go - or he will spend the rest of eternity wondering, waiting for her.

His eyes are fixed on hers as she hesitates, tears streaking her face, and he thinks she has never been so beautiful as she is in this moment.

He knows he has broken her heart, and his own, but this is how it is - how it must be. He whispers, so softly that only he and the night can hear "One day, Bolly…..one day…."

He can still feel her kiss on his lips, and remembers how fragile she felt in his arms, as if the wind would break her - but he has seen her strength ad knows she can survive this.

He watches her lift her face towards the skies. He cannot bear to watch her leave him, so as she closes her eyes as if in prayer, he slips into the shadows.

When he steps back into the moonlight moments later, she has gone….

xxxx

Nelson knows. He has seen it happen a thousand times before. He has seen them walk through the door in turmoil, their hopes shattered, face to face with their own reality, confused, afraid and grieving for a future cut short.

He watches Alex as she stands hesitantly in the doorway, and sees her jump, startled as the door clicks softly shut behind her. "Welcome, beautiful - it is so good to see you here at last"

He watches Alex tread warily across the wooden floor, where so many have walked before.

Nelson knows that it takes ten paces to reach the bar from the front door, and that in those ten paces, the pain, and loss, and fear, will melt away like snow in the gentle warmth of the Railway Arms, until all that is left is peace.

He knows that by the time she has taken her second step, her agony at losing Molly will have faded. By her fourth step, she will no longer be aware of her own death. By her seventh step, the violence and confusion of the last three years will have cleared from her memory. By the time she reaches the bar, even the pain of leaving Gene will have been erased. She stands before Nelson, calm and tranquil, as if she has been reborn.

"A special drink for our newest guest" he smiles, pushing a glass of champagne towards her…..

It is as though she has come home.

xxxx

For Gene, the years pass by and by. He loses count of the newcomers who flit in and out of his office, never staying long, each one finding their peace.

He still feels an odd kind of contentment as each one moves on, but it never fills the space she left behind. His dreams are filled with her soft brown eyes and teasing smile.

He chooses not to age - although fashions change, he remains as he was the night she left. The others tease him with a gentle respect, but he retains his identity. It is his last link to her.

One dark and frosty night, he sits alone in his office, a glass of single malt warming his emptiness, staring at the faded Gary Cooper poster which adorns the wall, its corners curling sadly. There is something in the air. Gene does not know what it is, but something is happening…he has a hunch….

Footsteps sound outside his door, and a man walks towards him. Gene knows this one is different. He is young, and tall and dark, and wears a black coat which reaches almost to the floor. His eyes are bright and unafraid, his voice strong and clear.

"DCI Hunt?" Gene nods in assent. "I'm DCI Peter Saint. I've been sent to relieve you"

"Relief? The Gene Genie doesn't need relieving…..bastard scum to catch and all that…" Gene's voice is indignant, tinged with a little uncertainty.

The younger man smiles, and moves towards Gene.

"Head Office orders, sir…..your duties are over….."

And it is that simple. Over. It is time. He has expected drama, a blaze of glory…..he almost feels cheated by the peacefulness of it all.

As if in a dream, Gene leaves Fenchurch and threads his way through the deserted streets. He hears the music first, soft and hypnotic. Then the gently flickering lights come into view, and he finds himself standing expectantly outside the Railway Arms.

He is in turmoil. After so long, he is finally here. He pauses at the doorway, taking one final glance into the night. What lies beyond the door? He hesitates for a moment, unwilling to admit to his fears.

Beneath his breath, he murmurs "I'm comin' home Bolls"

He steps through the doorway...

xxxx

Nelson knows. He has been awaiting this visitor for so long. This man has deserved his peace. He sees Gene step into the Railway Arms, exhausted, drained, empty, and watches him cross to the bar. Only ten steps. At his second step, the tragedy of his young life so cruelly taken has vanished. At his fourth step, his lion's heart is unbroken. At his seventh step, even pain of losing Alex has gone. By the time Gene reaches the bar, his careworn grimace has vanished and his stern expression has softened. Nelson barely dares to believe it, but there almost is the faintest trace of a smile playing on the newcomers lips.

"Mr Hunt! Welcome, mon brave! We have been expecting you!"

Nelson pushes a pint of beer across the bar…..

xxxx

Only a few weeks have passed since the first night of the rest of her existence, but Alex cannot remember what had gone before. She has spent her time working at her new posting, and is settled and content. She has made new friends at the station - a young couple called Chris and Shaz, and Ray, an older guy with a dry sense of humour and a definite eye for the ladies.

Between them, the four have been busy creating new memories. Alex is content and at peace - although sometimes in the dead of night, she awakes, convinced that she has lost something. She cannot quite put her finger on it, but it feels as if a part of her is missing.

She has accepted this feeling though - it does not make her afraid. She knows that sometimes she will walk down a street behind a man in a long tan coat, and feels that he should remind her of someone. She knows that the smell of whiskey and a certain brand of cigarette makes her smile, although she could not explain why.

Alex had not planned to visit the Railway Arms this evening, she had promised herself a meal with Shaz and an early night but something deep in her subconscious has led her to the bar, where she sits, idly swirling her wine in its glass. There is an air of anticipation, so distinct that she can almost touch it.

Nelson stirs behind the bar, and the door opens, admitting a blast of frigid air and a tall man in a long tan coat. Alex catches her breath as he moves across the room. He nods at Nelson and takes a long drink from the proffered glass. He turns to her and in that instant there is recognition and electricity…..

"Don't I…?"

"Aren't you…..?"

She laughs and Gene thinks she is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. There is light in her hair and in her eyes, and when she smiles her eyes crinkle mischievously. He is certain he knows her, but he does not know why. He knows he wants to know her, so much better…

He laughs and Alex thinks he is the most perfect thing she has ever seen. He smells of aftershave and security and his eyes are the brightest blue. She is sure she knows him, but has no idea why. She knows she wants to know him, so much better….

Nelson watches. Nelson knows.

They have forever….

xxxx

**So, there you go - let's leave them gazing into each other's eyes...**

**Can you ever forgive me for so naming Gene's replacement? Corny I know!**

**Hope it has given you a little happiness!**


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